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Enron Mail |
----- Forwarded by Jeff Dasovich/NA/Enron on 05/09/2001 04:32 PM -----
"Ronald Carroll" <rcarroll@bracepatt.com< 05/09/2001 04:00 PM To: <ray.alvarez@ei.enron.com<, <acomnes@enron.com<, <dfulton@enron.com<, <jdasovic@enron.com<, <jsteffe@enron.com<, <smara@enron.com<, <snovose@enron.com< cc: Subject: Fwd: Calif. regulators propose tiered electric rate rise ----- Message from "Tracey Bradley" <tbradley@bracepatt.com< on Wed, 09 May 2001 15:50:17 -0500 ----- To: "Justin Long" <jlong@bracepatt.com<, "Paul Fox" <pfox@bracepatt.com< cc: "Ronald Carroll" <rcarroll@bracepatt.com< Subject: Calif. regulators propose tiered electric rate rise Wednesday May 9, 4:34 pm Eastern Time Calif. regulators propose tiered electric rate rise (UPDATE: Adds details throughout) SAN FRANCISCO, May 9 (Reuters) - The California Public Utilities Commission on Wednesday proposed two plans to increase electricity rates in the power-starved state through a tiered retail pricing system. The parallel plans, submitted by an administrative law judge and CPUC President Loretta Lynch, are designed to encourage energy conservation by the 24 million customers of PG&E Corp.'s (NYSE:PCG - news) Pacific Gas & Electric unit and Edison International's (NYSE:EIX - news) Southern California Edison subsidiary. Higher rates also would allow the state to begin to recover money from utility bills to pay for power it has purchased on behalf of the cash-strapped utilities, Lynch said. The plans are expected to be voted on Monday by the five-member CPUC. Approval would implement the commission's March 27 move to raise retail power prices to help recover soaring costs of wholesale power. The March decision did not specify how the rate increases would affect different classes of electric customers. The plans, announced by Lynch, would raise rates 20 percent to 50 percent for commercial and industrial customers, and 41 percent to 48 percent for all electricity used by residential customers in excess of a percentage of their existing base usage. Lynch told a news conference, however, that up to half of California's residential customers who meet certain conservation targets would not face higher rates. Electricity rate hikes for agricultural customers served by PG&E and SoCal Edison would be capped at 23 percent to 30 percent, she added. Paul Clanon, a CPUC energy director, said the rate plans would raise $5 billion this year from utility customers, with some of the money channeled to the California Department of Water Resources, which is buying electricity on behalf of the state. The CPUC has not decided, however, exactly how much of monthly utility bills would flow to the agency. California's power purchases this year have drained the state treasury of some $6 billion. The state Senate on Wednesday approved a bill to issue $13.4 billion in bonds to pay for emergency power and sent the measure to Gov. Gray Davis, who is expected to sign it. The Senate's approval came two days after the state Assembly passed the power bond measure as a piece of regular -- rather than emergency session -- legislation, meaning California will have to wait at least 90 days to issue the debt. The bond issue aims to repay the state for the power purchases, with the debt to be paid off over 15 years through a portion of the monthly utility bills.
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